Graduation test scores improve

The district still trails the state in math, social studies and science.

Posted: Friday, May 13, 2005

Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools' scores on the Georgia High School Graduation Test improved from last year in each of the four subjects whose results were released Friday.

The percentage of all juniors passing the English test on their first try jumped three points from the 2003-2004 school year to pull even with the state at 95 percent.

The percentage of district juniors passing math, social studies and science also increased, but the district still trails the state in those areas. The gaps between the district and state range from three points in math to ten in science, a traditionally weak area in Georgia where 67 percent passed the test on their first try this year.

Chatham County students scored about the same as students in similar districts, besting them by two points in English while falling a point behind in science.

In a written statement, state superintendent of schools Kathy Cox called Georgia's results "reason for celebration and concern."

"On one hand, the majority of our high school students are passing the test and the performance of our minority students continues to improve," she said. She added, however, that the performance gap between white students and minorities remains too large.

Statewide, black and Hispanic students trailed other races, particularly in social studies and science. Sixty-four percent of all first-time black test takers passed social studies, and 41 percent passed science. Hispanic students fared almost identically.

The district has not released scores broken down by race, and neither the state nor the district has released results from the fifth part of the graduation test, the Georgia High School Writing Test.

The graduation assessments have great significance for students, who must pass all five parts in order to receive a diploma.

But the tests provide a fairly poor indicator of whether a student has the skills necessary to succeed in postsecondary education, according to Stanford University education professor Michael Kirst.

Kirst and a team of researchers reviewed analyses of exit exams, including Georgia's, as part of the study "Betraying the College Dream: How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations."

The U.S. Department of Education has also concluded that the Georgia exams do not test at a high enough level.

The state uses the math and language arts portions of the tests to measure whether students are making Adequate Yearly Progress, an annual academic proficiency level mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

But to be "proficient" for AYP purposes, students must score higher than the passing score the state requires for a diploma.

School by school, Savannah Arts Academy posted the highest passing rates for each test while Beach High's rates were the lowest in all areas.

Johnson High showed the greatest gains since 2001 of any school in three subjects, moving its passing rate up 7 points in English, 15 in math and 11 in social studies. Savannah Arts' science rate increased 18 points since 2001 to 97 percent passing, while Johnson's increased 10 to 61.

The district's passing rate since 2001 held steady in science, increased by two in math, three in English and five in Math.

The percentage of students passing each test has changed little for the state since 2001.